Culture Insider: Children's games in ancient China

The New Year painting from Qing Dynasty depicts people playing diabolo. Collected by the Capital Museum.

Playing diabolo

Diabolo is always made of wood or bamboo and is hollow in the center. By juggling diabolo on ropes, the high-speed rotating diabolo will make a sound.

Playing diabolo is a very interesting folk game, especially popular in North China. Through many changes, it has become an item in Chinese traditional acrobatics. Playing diabolo was also included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage in 2006.